Image courtesy of the artist and David Kord
/ (Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.)

Although artist Rashid Johnson explores themes of identity and black history in his work, he does not see the exhibition of his work at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum to be an exploration of the black experience.

What it does show is the breadth of his work during the last fifteen years, in multiple mediums and with multiple layers of meaning.

"I don’t really choose to define a specific message," said Johnson. "Critical theory, art history, critical race history, music history, gesture, abstraction, film, installation, all of these things are kind of paired together to provide an opportunity to read a narrative, but the narrative is not necessarily delivered."